Turkey Purge

Trustees appointed to Mardin’s Kızıltepe Municipality following arrest of co-mayors

Mardin’s Kızıltepe District Governor Ahmet Odabaş has been appointed as trustee to the Kızıltepe Municipality to act in place of its co-mayors, who were arrested last week over alleged terror links. Following their detention on Nov. 25, Kızıltepe Co-mayors İsmail Asi and Leyla Salman were arrested on Dec. 2 on charges of links to the […]

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Imprisoned journalist’s children change surname amid peer pressure

The children of former Taraf daily journalist Mehmet Baransu, who was imprisoned in March 2015 after revealing an alleged government plan to “eliminate the Gülen movement” based on a secret document he published in 2013, have changed their last name due to pressure at school and in their neighborhood, CNNTürk reported on Wednesday. An İstanbul

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Gov’t pressure forces Doğan to put blame on Gülen movement for record tax fine

The Doğan Group, which owns one of the biggest media companies in Turkey, has put the blame on the faith-based Gülen movement for a record tax fine imposed on the company in 2009, claiming that Gülen-linked inspectors were behind the astronomical fine, according to a story in the Hürriyet daily on Tuesday. The Finance Ministry’s

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Turkish Parliament passes 5 gov’t decrees, approves dismissal of thousands

Turkish parliament on Friday passed five of the decrees issued by the Turkish government during a state of emergency declared in the wake of a military coup attempt in July to the country’s Constitutional Court for cancellation, T24 News portal reported. While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the opposition National Movement

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Kılıçdaroğlu’s top adviser under custody over ByLock use

Turkish police on Tuesday morning detained Fatih Gürsul, an advisor to main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, on charges of using ByLock, a smart phone application that authorities claim is a communication tool between members of the Gülen movement. Gürsul was detained as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement, which is

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Turkish court arrests döner king Ali Usta over coup charges

Ali Özcan, the general manager of Dönerci Ali Usta restaurants chain was detained over his alleged links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt. Özcan’s arrest was widely mocked on social media as it increased the number of owners of restaurant chains behind bars. Previously, three businessmen

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Pro-Kurdish DBP mayor and aide detained in Erzurum

Pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Karayazı district Mayor Mehmet Sait Karabakan and his deputy Zeynep Han Bingöl were detained on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Erzurum province, CNNTürk reported. Police raided and searched the Karayazı Municipal Services Building while Karabakan and Bingöl were taken to police

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Amnesty: 500,000 Kurds displaced in Turkey’s Southeast due to curfews, crackdown

Tens of thousands of residents of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sur are among an estimated half million people forced from their homes as a result of a brutal crackdown by Turkish authorities over the past year which may amount to collective punishment, said Amnesty International in a new report. As the suppression of

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[ANALYSIS] The Constitution of a Newly-Emerged Authoritarian Regime: Decree Laws under State of Emergency

Authoritarianism in the form of political Islam revealed its true face in Turkey during Gezi Park Protests, tested its sovereignty by unlawfully responding to operations against corruption scandals in December 17-25 period and by forming collusive alliances. After 15 July 2016, this authoritarian trend transformed itself into creating a “new ideology” and “building a new

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Man arrested for ‘insulting’ President Erdoğan on social media

A man in Tekirdağ province in Turkey’s Marmara region has been arrested on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on social media, the Doğan news agency reported on Sunday. Last week, Sadi Özdemir was detained by police teams from the anti-terrorism department on charges of insulting Erdoğan from his social media account. He was

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